Problems and Perspectives in Interpreting the Texts of the Madhva Traditions

Abstract

The Madhva school of Vedanta, more widely known as ‘Dvaita Vedanta’, was founded by the great philosopher and religious leader Madhvacarya who lived in modern-day Karnataka from the thirteenth to the fourteenth centuries. In 2008, I had the benefit of receiving instruction from a modern Acarya of the tradition, Prof. Prahladachar of the Purnaprajña Samsodhana Mandiram, Bangalore. I worked with him for around one and a half months, during which time Professor Prahladachar taught me, in a mixture of English and Sanskrit, portions of the Nyayamrta of Vyasatirtha and its commentaries, the Advaita Siddhi of Madhusudana Sarasvati and the Nyayamrtarangini of Vyasaramacarya. This prompted reflection on my part on what it is to be an interpreter of Sanskrit philosophical texts in modern times. My main contention here is that, while modern philological methods represent an extremely promising approach to the classic texts of the Madhva tradition, contact with scholars trained within the tradition should be a central component of any serious research project into texts such as the Nyayamrta. I have appended a brief extract from the Nyayamrta along with its commentaries based on my work in Bangalore.